The Mediocre Wasteland Adventures of a Struggling Vault Dweller
by ardentlyThieving
Summary: Kei would personally consider themself to be one of the least qualified people to be sent on the hunt for a new water chip. That fact did not stop the Overseer from choosing them for the task.


It would honestly not be a stretch to say that Kei felt rather overwhelmed right now. Of course there were plenty of other words that would work just as well: confused, apprehensive, terrified - or their personal favourite - completely in over their head. It didn't help that as soon as they left the Vault the first thing they saw was the dead body of Ed. Not that they had really known him all that well, but if he hadn't even gotten anywhere what chance did they have?

"Find the water chip and save us all." Kei muttered to themself as they searched Ed's body for ammo, swallowing down the bile that rose in their throat at being this close to a corpse. "But how, exactly, am I meant to do that? Do I just walk out of this stupid cave and spot it on the ground in front of me?"

Well, they figured, they had put off the start of their adventure for long enough. Time to get a move on and head towards Vault 15. Not that they were optimistic enough to think that they'd just walk in and see a water chip ripe for the taking, but it was the only lead they had so it would make as good a place to start as any. And so Kei started walking.

They wandered around inside the cave for a while, aimlessly shooting at the rats who seemed to infest it. It really wasn't fair. Everyone else would be relaxing and enjoying their lovely Sunday afternoon, while Kei was having rats nibble at their ankles. The thought made them bitter, and they irritably took aim at yet another rat. Bang! A perfect hit.

Despite themself, Kei couldn't help, but feel a smile come to their face as they saw rays of sunlight for the first time in their 21 years of existing. They broke into a run, eager to discover what the light felt like and what the world outside the cave looked like. They were only a few steps away from the cave mouth when they slowed to almost a halt. Apprehension flooded through them. What if Ed had died of radiation poisoning? Or what if they stepped outside and the sun burnt them up? Logically they knew that there wasn't going to suddenly be far more radiation outside the cave than there was inside it; and that while they might get a wicked sunburn they weren't going to spontaneously combust as soon as they stepped outside. But the trouble with fear is that it is rarely a logical thing.

Ten steps left. Nine. Eight. Five. Two. One. Kei paused on the threshold for a moment before stepping out into the light. Instantly their hand shot up to shade their eyes from the nearly blinding light. They blinked furiously as they took the next few steps and then they were entirely outside of the cave. They were pleased to discover that they were not dying of radiation poisoning, and that the warm sunlight felt rather nice on their skin. So nice in fact that Kei sat on the ground and just relaxed for a while, enjoying their first experience with sunlight while they waited for their eyes to fully adjust.

"No point in wandering around unable to see," they pointed out to anyone who might be watching and judging them for further delaying their quest. "The Vault is never going to get another water chip if I die before I can bring them one." Satisfied, they waited a while longer, completely guilt free.

But the time came for them to move on, and move on they must. Sighing to themself, Kei got to their feet. They checked to make sure that they still had their 10mm pistol and all the supplies they had started with and set off in the direction of Vault 15.

A few hours later and they were cursing their decision to start moving. Kei had never been the most durable of individuals, and as they walked the sun seemed to get warmer and warmer and their pack of supplies got heavier and heavier. Yet again they found themself irritable at whatever twist of fate had led to them being the one selected to undertake this mission. Surely, out of the entire Vault, there must have been someone else more suited in just about every way? But no, somehow they were the most qualified. Kei snorted to themself at that, the idea that somehow they were the best suited to leave the Vault. Sure they were smart, but that hardly translated to being incredibly personable or aware of how to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

And a desert was hardly an enjoyable place to have these feelings of self-doubt. Kei swore lowly as they realized just how sore their feet had become. They had owned these boots for a while, so they were fully broken in, but the sheer length of the walk meant that it hardly mattered whether the boots were brand new. And of course that was when they had to discover their first radscorpion.

The creature scurried across the sand towards them. Instinctively Kei pulled up their gun, aimed at the creature and fired. Miss. Miss. Hit. Hit. Miss. The creature just kept coming as they continued to fire. It was almost on top of them when they ran out of bullets in their clip.

"No! No goddammit not now!" Kei narrowly managed to dodge to one side as the creature lashed out with its tail. Acting purely on instinct they flung the gun at it and pulled the knife from their pack, not wanting to give up those precious seconds reloading. Time slowed as they watched its stinger carefully, aware that this was possibly the stupidest thing they had ever done in their life.

It lashed out, they dodged left and forwards, wildly swinging at the scorpion. The blade connected, dug into the creature's tail and lodged there. Kei desperately sawed the knife back and forth in an attempt to get it loose as the beast lashed out in rage, the sharp stinger digging into their leg. Frustrated and pained tears welled up in Kei's eyes, blurring their vision, but they kept sawing. There was no way they were dying like this. A scream rose in their throat as they pushed harder on the knife, stumbling forwards as it finally severed the stinger.

They recovered, now favouring their right leg as they pushed their arm down and shoved the blade into the creature's skull. It thrashed, blood pouring from the wound and coating the blade, as well as Kei's hand and arm, but finally it stilled. Kei's hand released the handle and they collapsed to the ground, a hysterical noise pouring out of them.

Kei was aware they were going into shock, but couldn't help the noise and the tears. Their breathing sped up and they rocked backwards and forwards on the sand. It was the adrenaline wearing off that saved them. The fresh stinging pain from the wound cut through the shock and pushed them into action.

With a trembling hand they reached out and pulled over their pack. They dug through it until they found one of their precious supply of stimpacks. Somehow they managed to steady their hand for long enough to push the needle into their leg, releasing the precious medication into their body. They had no cure for the venom and no way to clean the wound, so this would have to do for now. They pulled out a roll of bandages next and wrapped it around the wound, wincing as the blood immediately began to soak through and stain the bandages red.

They shakily pulled themself to their feet. First they retrieved the gun from where it had landed, making sure that they reloaded it. Then they cautiously approached the scorpion's body. They rested the foot of their good leg on top of its head, pushing down as their hands wrapped around the knife handle and tugged at it. Their hands slipped on the slick blood at first, but they slowly pulled it out. They bent down and wiped the knife as clean as they could get it on the sand and slipped it back into their pack. After a moment's consideration they retrieved the severed stinger, being careful not to cut their hand on it as they placed it in their pack as well.

They set off again, slower this time and limping. The pain in their leg wasn't letting up, and they felt more and more light-headed, no matter how much water they drank. But still they pressed onward, knowing that it would be suicide to give up now, even for just a short break. The sun bore down as they stumbled onward, praying that they wouldn't come across any other creatures.

They were lucky. The unmistakable walls of a village rose in the distance. Barely holding on to consciousness they limped in that direction. They were so close now, surely they were safe.

A few metres from the village gate their legs finally gave out and they collapsed to their knees, the 10mm falling from their hand. Their vision had gone black. They could faintly hear the sound of shouting, and of people moving towards them. Kei tried to get back to their feet and fell again. The people had finally reached them. They desperately struggled to hang on, to speak.

A man's voice was faint above her. "Don't just stand there staring! Pick her up and get her to Razlo!"

'Them', they thought to themself, but they couldn't speak to correct the man. As they were lifted from the ground they finally gave up and blacked out completely.


End file.
